Global Payments Inc. $GPN Shares Purchased by National Pension Service

Key Points

• National Pension Service increased its stake in Global Payments Inc. by 4.8%, acquiring an additional 18,334 shares, and now owns approximately 0.16% of the company, valued at nearly $39 million.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Hold" on Global Payments, with recent price targets ranging from $77.00 to $112.21, reflecting mixed outlooks influenced by varied ratings from firms like Wells Fargo and UBS.
• Global Payments reported a 3.10 EPS for the latest quarter, slightly beating estimates, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25, indicating a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

National Pension Service boosted its stake in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN - Free Report) by 4.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 397,851 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 18,334 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.16% of Global Payments worth $38,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pzena Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Global Payments by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 8,334,097 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $816,075,000 after buying an additional 35,251 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Global Payments by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,906,444 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $325,698,000 after buying an additional 259,590 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Global Payments by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,730,471 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $305,977,000 after buying an additional 305,987 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Global Payments by 40.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,656,830 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $185,664,000 after buying an additional 479,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Global Payments by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,624,288 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $159,050,000 after buying an additional 9,755 shares in the last quarter. 89.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Dara L. Steele-Belkin sold 2,000 shares of Global Payments stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.00, for a total value of $172,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 30,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,641,318. This trade represents a 6.11% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.01% of the company's stock.

Global Payments Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE GPN traded up $0.1950 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $86.5650. 2,642,954 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,818,309. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.13, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 0.95. Global Payments Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.93 and a twelve month high of $120.00.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.06 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.36 billion. Global Payments had a net margin of 15.07% and a return on equity of 12.47%. The business's revenue was up 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.93 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Global Payments's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GPN. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $100.00 price target (up from $90.00) on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Cowen lowered shares of Global Payments from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Global Payments from $79.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Global Payments in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Global Payments from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $112.21.

Global Payments Profile

Global Payments Inc provides payment technology and software solutions for card, check, and digital-based payments in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through two segments, Merchant Solutions and Issuer Solutions. The Merchant Solutions segment offers authorization, settlement and funding, customer support, chargeback resolution, terminal rental, sales and deployment, payment security, and consolidated billing and reporting services.